August 2, 2019. After 25 years, 3 weeks, and 12 hours, I’m officially retired. Here’s a look back at some of what I saw.
9-1-1 envy
September 20, 2017
9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1, 911, dispatch, emergency dispatch, Tulare County, visalia, visalia 911 center, Visalia dispatch center Leave a comment
The City of Visalia opened it’s new communications center to the public today, and now I have a serious case of dispatch center envy.
Their new center is spacious, well laid out, modern, and will be a joy for their staff to work in… especially since the current center is a small room in the basement of the police station downtown.
This center will serve the needs of Visalia for the next fifty years or more.
Tulare County really needs to get on the ball and upgrade it’s 9-1-1 dispatch center, which is also in a small room in a basement. (It’s supposed to be moved upstairs to a somewhat larger room (with windows!) soon, but “soon” in government speak is always vague.) Plans to move it to the new Cigna building at Akers and Tulare are on “hold”, probably forever (my pessimism is creeping in here), and I doubt it will ever be there. The county should follow the City of Visalia’s lead, and build a dedicated 9-1-1 communications center. (especially since the county missed the boat and… ‘declined’… to join with Visalia and consolidate the centers into one building.)
Congratulations, Visalia. You’ve got a well laid out, modern, functional emergency communications center that will serve the city for a long time. I’m green with envy.
I wonder if it’s a time to consider a change in my work venue?
Our part of the valley used to be an Oak forest
December 27, 2015
commentary, Personal, Pictures Oak, Tulare County, Valley Oak, visalia, Woodlake Leave a comment
South of Woodlake, California. Road 212, south of Avenue 328, looking southeast.
#ThrowBackThursday – January 1986
March 20, 2014
Personal moro rock, sequoia national park, throw back thursday, Tulare County 1 Comment
January 1986, on the top of Moro Rock, in Sequoia National Park, which is just up the road from my home in Visalia. It may look like I have a death grip on the rail, but I don’t remember being at all nervous there. I’m 28 here, and there are two things I notice in this picture: how much hair I have compared to today, and how much snow on the mountains compared to today. Both were much thicker than now. Mother Nature can be a bitch, and Father Time a bastard!
Tulare County Film Commission posts new promo video
February 10, 2014
video fox theater, mooney grove, sequoia national park, springville, Three Rivers, Tulare County, tulare county film commission, visalia Leave a comment
One Day or One Trial (but really only 2 hours)
September 25, 2012
commentary, Personal civic duty, jury duty, Superior Court, Tulare County 1 Comment
Monday last was my first adventure into the jury selection process since the mid 1980’s. Back then, I made it all the way into the court room and interviews by the attorneys in a Federal case, something dealing with drugs. I was excused by the prosecution, probably due to my age. Ever since, every time I’ve been sent a juror summons, my group was excused on the recorded message the day before the appearance was demanded. This week, my group made it to the courthouse, but didn’t have to be there until 1pm. So I gussied up, showed up, and wondered if I would see the inside of a court room this trip. Well, it appears any jury duty will be a bit like my attempts to get my current job. Inch a bit closer, each try, and eventually, years later, land that puppy.
So I sat. More
The Other Road
September 9, 2012
9-1-1, commentary, Personal Kennedy Meadows, odd place names, The Other Road, Tulare County Leave a comment
That title is not a “road not taken” musing, it’s an actual street name in my county!
After more than 18 years at the same agency, you’d think I’d have run across every street name in the county by now, especially if they’re not in a new sub-division. Saturday sprung a new one on me, however. “The Other Road”. It’s in the Kennedy Meadows area of southeastern Tulare County, and I’ve not heard of it before. Neither had I heard of a road that intersects with it… “Up The Hill Road”.
In my defense, while we have a resident Deputy that covers the area (two of them, actually), we almost never get any calls for service from this part of our county. It’s remote… very remote. If a Deputy or backup has to come from the nearest substation, it’s at least two hours. Deputies for that patrol this area have to be a special breed, which is appropriate, since the folks that live out there are a special breed themselves.
When I first heard a fellow dispatcher taking a call from an address on “The Other Road”, we both first thought we were dealing with someone who simply did not know the name of the other road. Turns out WE were the ones who didn’t know!
Now I’m going to be looking over the maps during slow time, to see what other odd names crop up. Years ago the County changed the name of a creek to Negro Creek. I’m sure you can figure out what the old name was.
The Definition of Insanity
August 13, 2012
commentary, News California Congressional District 22, Clovis, Devin Nunes, Otto for Congress, Otto Lee, Tulare County, visalia 1 Comment
… is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.
For almost ten years, voters in the Visalia area have elected, and re-elected, Devin Nunes to be our congressman in the House of Representatives. In at least one election, Nunes ran unopposed. In those ten years, we’ve seen a dramatic jump in the number of dairies in Tulare County and the surrounding area. Tulare County is now #1 in dairy production in the United States. Tulare County is also consistently #2 or #3 in overall agricultural production in the United States, usually hot on the heels of Fresno County. Despite this leadership in the dairy industry (Representative Nunes’ family business) and agriculture, Tulare County is also one of the poorest counties in California. Nearly a quarter of the population live in poverty, and one in three residents receives state aid.
One has to ask, in the midst of such wealth, why is the poverty level so high, and what has Devin Nunes done in his tenure in Congress to alleviate that poverty? The answer, based on continuing high poverty levels, would seem to be “not much”. Republicans love to talk business, and clamor for government to be run “more like a business”. Well, we’ve had ten years of Mr. Nunes’ being in our employ, and we don’t have much to show for it (unless you’re a dairyman or farmer). It’s time we seriously considered firing Mr. Nunes for his lack of success in solving the problems that have been plaguing Tulare County for years. After all, that’s what any business would do, right?
On Sunday, August 12, 2012, I attended the grand opening of the Otto For Congress office in Visalia. Otto Lee is a Commander in the Navy, Bronze Star recipient, private business owner, and former Mayor and Council member in Sunnyvale.
Otto Lee brings a fresh perspective to the needs of the new 22nd District.
Sunday’s office opening was a chance for people to meet the candidate, and talk to him about his goals and plans for the future.
There are many different groups that fall under the banner of what might be called Democratic “special interests”, and my interests are, of course, in the area of LGBT issues. I had an opportunity to sit down with Otto for a few minutes, and discuss those subjects.
Ten hours to go, then – Vacation!
March 17, 2012
Personal jimmiejoe, lazy days, Tulare County, vacation, visalia 1 Comment
One more work shift to go. Then, it’s vacation time, and I’m outta there!
Four weeks off, with nothing planned at all.
Looking for suggestions…
Requirements are simple:
Cheap. Fun. Easy. Company welcome, but you’ll have to pay your own way.
Ideas?
Let me know.
JimmieJoe 
“Shoving it down our throat…”
December 12, 2023
Jim Reeves commentary, News E Pluribus Unum, in god we trust, shove it down our throat, Tulare County, Tulare County Board of Supervisors Leave a comment
One of the most common refrains those of us in the queer community hear is something along the lines of, “we don’t care what you do in the bedroom, just don’t shove it down our throats!”
This is usually in response to something innocuous, like a queer couple holding hands in public while walking down Main Street, or perhaps when a rainbow flag is flown from a home or business during June. Proclamations by City Councils or County Board of Supervisors really set some people off.
Oddly, however, that is a one-way outrage street.
Christians love to “shove it down our throat” when they’re proselytizing about their god. Today’s example is courtesy of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.
During today’s (December 12, 2023) Board meeting, they approved the addition of “IN GOD WE TRUST” to the chambers. Board Chair Dennis Townsend, District 5 (Porterville area), recently proposed adding the phrase to a wall in the chambers, supposedly as a nod to the United States Motto, saying in the November 28th meeting that “… in god we trust is how our nation was founded, and even in that it is not specific” to any particular god.
However…
Maybe I missed it in the multitude of gods believed in over the years, and the somewhat smaller group with active believers around the world and in Tulare County today, but, as far as I know, only one particular god is referred to as GOD. That’s the Christian god, also known as Yahweh or Jehovah.
So to claim the Christian god is not necessarily the one being referred to when “IN GOD WE TRUST” is prominently displayed is disingenuous. It’s also not the case, in spite of fundamentalist Christians going on otherwise, that this nation was founded as a Christian nation, and with the Bible being a primary source of the nation’s underpinnings.
On June 10, 1797, President John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, after a unanimous vote to approve by the United States Senate. Article 11 of that treaty states, in part, that “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” There are other instances of the founders making it clear they were not Christians and were not basing the new nation on that faith system. Many were deists, and had a belief in a god, but not necessarily the Christian version.
And yet, “IN GOD WE TRUST”.
Kudos to Supervisor Amy Shuklian for her actions which changed the sign from an obvious Christian proselytization to something more in line with the alleged homage to the United States. She proposed, and was successful in adding, “E Pluribus Unum” to the signage. In the final vote Supervisor Shuklian voted against the installation, but was outvoted by the rest of the Board.
If the goal was really to show respect for the founding of the United States, and display something that encompasses that which the nation is really based upon, I think this would have been more appropriate:
But that doesn’t shove anything down anyone’s throat, does it?
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